Four Months Home

We've been home for a little over four months and Nikolas continues to thrive in his new environment. He acts a little more like a two-year-old every week. It's been almost two weeks since he had his casts removed. He can stand on his own and walk with assistance, but his muscles aren't quite strong enough for him to walk alone. He's very determined, so it's only a matter of time. He has such a fun personality and it's great to see him becoming the little boy he is supposed to be.

At his checkup with the pediatrician today we learned that he's grown another two inches, bringing him to 35 inches. That's a total of four inches in four months. Very impressive!! He's still weighing in at 24 pounds, but we know he had some muscle loss in his legs over the six weeks he was in casts. He's still eating and drinking very well. He likes most foods and definitely has his favorites.

He's starting to express more of an interest in television. He still has his two favorite shows (Jack's Big Music Show and Yo Gabba Gabba!). We usually watch an episode of one show before bed. He'll stop what he's doing when one of them comes on and turns his attention to the show. He really likes the TV screen with the swirls that comes on a couple of times during Jack's, and he squeals every time he sees it. It's wonderful to see him get excited about things.

He plays so much more than he did before. He likes cars, musical toys and blocks the most. He plays on his own now, but he always checks back to make sure I'm still in the room. His motor skills have improved so much since he's been home. It's so amazing to watch him learn.

His understanding of English is impressive. We're pretty sure he understands most of what we say to him. He follows basic commands with ease. He hasn't been speaking much since we started the casting for his feet, but the doctor says it's normal for kids to regress a little while going through something like that. We're working with our pediatrician to get him started in First Steps after the first of the year to work on some speech therapy.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at my parents' house last month and we're looking forward to celebrating Nikolas' first "real" Christmas. He enjoyed putting up the tree and we're sure he'll have fun visiting with the family and opening gifts.